Cupcake Nirvana

Of course I didn't have my camera when I had the best cupcake ever, but that's not the point. The point is that I had the best cupcake ever!!! Coming from me, that means a lot! I have been to many cupcake shops and tried many, many cupcakes. Elizabethan Desserts in Encinitas is where I found these treasures!

I wasn't planning on checking out another cupcake shop because the previous night I had chowed down cupcakes from two other places. But, as fate would have it, I forgot to bring a cupcake snack for the drive down to Encinitas to pick up our new triathlon bikes at Nytro. I also hadn't looked up directions because I wasn't planning on stopping by, but I remembered the name of the street. After a few minutes of searching, we found Elizabethan Desserts in Sunshine Nurseries. It was kinda hard to find, but the signs on the street helped out.

Anyways, on to the important part. When I walked in I was greeted by a display of yummy desserts. The first thing I noticed was the refrigerated case of cupcakes. This confused me because the night before I was told by another cupcake shop not to refrigerate cupcakes. I pushed my doubts aside and picked out my flavor of choice. Normally I would go for something safe (like Red Velvet), but the Monkey Business cupcake was screaming for me! My husband picked the Chocolate Toffee. The atmosphere of the bakery was very cozy. I could see desserts being made before my eyes. Elizabeth was behind the counter putting frosting on the Red Velvet cupcakes. I like being able to see what's going on behind the scenes. It makes it more real, not commercialized.

Before we started eating I made my husband stop at the closest gas station so we could pick up a carton of milk. Wow, Wow, Wow! I can't believe how amazing these cupcakes were!!! My cupcake was called Monkey Business. It had banana cake, butter cream frosting, a white chocolate shell, and caramel drizzled on top. The shell was the reason for the refrigeration. My first bite told me that I had died and gone to cupcake heaven! The flavor combination was something I had never tasted before. I am not usually a big white chocolate fan, but this was unbelievable! My husband got the Chocolate Toffee. It had chocolate cake, some kind of butter cream frosting, a hard chocolate shell, and toffee sprinkled on top. It tasted like a Milk Bordeaux from See's Candies. The Monkey Business was my favorite by far, but if I would have had the Chocolate Toffee alone, I would have said it was the best cupcake I had ever tasted! I must admit, I was a bit worried when I saw how much frosting was on each cupcake. There was almost an equal amount of frosting as cupcake. But the frosting was not overwhelming. Surprisingly, I would say that it was the perfect amount for these cupcakes. You could tell that the frosting was made only with the "finest ingredients," like the website states.

(Side note: This is the only part of the cupcakes that made it home, therefore making it the only time I was able to take a picture!)
What is the probability of picking the two best-tasting cupcakes in the world?! I am not that lucky, so I think that the other cupcakes and desserts are most likely equally amazing. I must go back to test this theory! My husband and I are racing in a triathlon in Oceanside in July so that will be my excuse for making a stop. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Monkey Business will be there!